Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Pluck Off

Somehow our rulers forgot. And the 400 million honking hissing geese who've signed the anti-congestion tax petition have sent them and their lib-media cheerleaders scurrying for the usual cover: "populist, not democratic... clearly an orchestrated campaign so it doesn't count... rule by plebiscite... that's fascism... worse than Hitler... etc"

But however much John Snow and the eco lobby stamp their feet, will Gordo actually have the Balls to go ahead now? With the fiscal situation looking bleaker by the month, he's going to have to find some new cash somewhere, but Bliar's crackpot petition website seems to have stuffed this one.

The best guess is that he will, but he'll make local authorities take the rap:

"Briefing notes from the Department for Transport said the national scheme would not be implemented until the middle of the decade but councils did not have to wait to gain some of the benefits locally. It says road pricing could raise up to £28bn by 2025.

"A well-designed local road-pricing scheme has the potential to reduce congestion significantly in the local area. These areas can expect to see reduced journey times ... and significant improvements in public transport provision. This is good for all sectors of society whether they be shoppers, workers or business," said the notes."

Translates as "we will be slashing Revenue Support Grant- especially for rich Tory/LD areas down south- and you local authorities will have to make up the difference by doing the plucking yourself; let's face it, you already collect the most unpopular tax- Council Tax- so another few sacks of hatemail won't make too much difference; see you later."

PS Apologies for brief post- we're still away and Tyler is only able to post by stealing some random neighbourhood bandwidth. He doesn't feel proud.

No comments:

Post a Comment

BOM the book now available

Drawing on six years of blogging government waste, this book shows how we spend far more than we need on our public services. It sets out the facts and explores the underlying issues. Just why does government spend so much and deliver such second rate service? Why do we put up with it? And what are the alternatives?

ABOUT BOM

Despite all the talk of cuts, government still consumes nearly half our national income. Yet many tens of billions of its spending is wasted, with taxpayers made to pick up the tab for a depressing array of overpriced sub-standard services. This is money we can no longer afford, and our National Debt is already at danger level.

If we're to avoid further decades of stagnation and austerity we urgently need to find another way. Exposing and understanding the wastefulness of government is a necessary step in the right direction.